Education

Yale University, Ph.D., 1971

Yale University, M.Phil, 1970

Cambridge University, M.A., 1970

Cambridge University, B.A., 1967

Research Interests

Ian Tattersall currently maintains an active research interest in species variety and higher-taxa relationships within both the hominid and lemuriform primate groups. He finds it curious that he is considered an extreme splitter in the hominid domain and an enthusiastic lumper in the lemur one, despite applying pretty consistent standards across the board. Over the last several years his research interests have been trending increasingly toward the question of how and when Homo sapiens became the extraordinary cognitive entity it is, and to developing a framework for understanding how a non-linguistic, non-symbolic ancestor can have given rise to a symbolic and linguistic descendant: a matter broached in his recent (2012) book Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins. He is also exploring the reasons behind the extraordinarily fast evolution of the hominids over the Pleistocene: no other species of any organism is anywhere near as different morphologically (and presumptively behaviorally) from its own ancestors living two million years ago than is Homo sapiens. In addition to Madagascar, he has conducted fieldwork in the Comoro Islands, Mauritius, Borneo, Nigeria, Niger, Sudan, Yemen, Vietnam, Surinam, French Guiana, Reunion, and the United States.

Publications

Recent and Major Publications2018. DeSalle, R., and I. Tattersall. What a DNA can (and cannot) tell us about the emergence of language and speech. Journal of Language Evolution 3 (1): 59–66. [DOI: 10.1093/jole/lxz018]

2018. DeSalle, R., and I. Tattersall. Race is not a genomic phenomenon. The Scientist 32 (6): June 2018.

2018. DeSalle, R., and I. Tattersall. Troublesome science: the misuse of genetics and genomics in understanding race. New York: Columbia University Press.

2018. Tattersall, I. Light at the museum (Review of L. Grande, Curators: behind the scenes at natural history museums what museums are good for in the 21st century, and N. Thomas, The return of curiosity). Times Literary Supplement 5988, January 5, 2018: 10–11.

2017. Tattersall, I. How we got from there to here, and how we did it so fast. In: C. Lilley and D.J. Pedersen (editors), Human origins and the image of god: essays in honor of J. Wentzel van Huyssteen: 25–42. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.